Chlo asked Stacy McAnulty:

Do you have any advise for people wanting to become an author someday? I LOVED Miscalculations of Lightening Girl, and I have a copy I sometimes go to for inspiration.

Stacy McAnulty Hi Chloe,

Thank you for reading The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl, and I'm honored that you turn to it for inspiration. It's very cool that you want to be an author someday. My two dream jobs were to be an astronaut and a writer. (Still working on the astronaut dream.) I didn't go to college to become an author; I hold an engineering degree. So I had to learn to write outside the classroom.

Here's my advice.
1) Read, read, read. Most authors will tell you this. And it's true. You'll learn so much by reading books you love but also by reading books you don't love so much.

2) Finish projects. Whether you're creating a short story, poem, or novel, see it through to the end. A lot of people give up. Maybe they jump to a new project, or they put it away, hoping for inspiration later. I say finish the piece. If you hate it, lock it away. If you like it even a little, revise it until it shines.

3) Learn to love revisions. Most of my time (I estimate 75%) is spent on revisions and editing. Nothing I write comes out right the first time. My first drafts are a mess. But I know I'll make the work shine in revisions.

4) Gummy bears. If you're having a bad writing day--a day when it feels like you can't write--treat yourself to gummy bears. Say to yourself, "If I write 50 more words, I can have one gummy bear." I'm not kidding; I really do this!

Thanks for the question!

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